Deborah Bloomfield

You wouldn’t think molecules could be left- or right-handed – they’re too tiny to have limbs, after all. However, they absolutely can be, and it’s all to do with a property called chirality. Chirality is defined by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) as “the geometric property of a rigid object (or […]

“Keep absolutely still. Its vision is based on movement.” That’s the line delivered by a petrified Dr Alan Grant in a memorable sequence of Jurassic Park that sees the resident Tyrannosaurus rex, evidently no longer satisfied with tethered goat, escape its enclosure and set upon some stranded human guests.  Frozen, Grant and chaotician Ian Malcolm […]

For all the variation in science teaching worldwide, classical Newtonian physics is almost always taught before 20th-century discoveries. For a decade, however, some schools in Western Australia have been trying a radically different approach. This idea, known as “Einstein-First”, has been so successful it’s now being taken nationwide, accompanied by a newer program called Quantum Girls. […]

Mexican jumping beans are seed pods that are inhabited by the larvae of a small moth. Due to the tiny larvae flexing and flickering around inside the pod, the seed jumps around. This strange phenomenon is often used as a novelty joke or magic trick, but it’s a perfectly natural part of the bugs’ life […]

A 52-year-old man in the US has developed a flesh-eating bacterial infection after being bitten by a relative during a family get together. Donnie Adams, from Riverview, Florida, noticed a pain in his left thigh as well as a small raised bump. According to Tampa Bay Times, he assumed that the mark was probably from […]

A 15-centimeter (6-inch) stone penis has recently been unearthed during excavations at a medieval fortress in southwest Spain. While phallic objects were not uncommon in the ancient world, most notably in the lands of the Roman Empire, it’s pretty strange to find one dating from the European Middle Ages. However, unlike similar artifacts from the […]

We’ve all seen images of volcanoes spewing out rocks and smoke into the sky – but is the glowing red rock running down the side of the mountain magma or lava, and how can you tell which one you are looking at? Here, we break down the science behind these molten rocks. According to the […]

There is a place in Turkey where strange vapors issue from the ground, which ancient Greco-Roman people used in their rituals to the gods of the underworld. The place, known as Pluto’s Gate, is very much a deadly portal between two worlds.  Pluto’s Gate is a great example of a ploutonion, a religious temple dedicated […]

The Earth’s days are slowly getting longer, thanks mostly to the Moon. However, it seems this is a much less even process than has been imagined, with the lengthening having stalled at least once. For a long period starting around two billion years ago, it may have stopped entirely, something that may have been driven […]

In December 2019, the Sun’s Solar Cycle 25 began, and it’s been a lot more active than scientists predicted. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has released a timelapse of this active cycle, including some of the most spectacular events that have taken place on the surface of the Sun. Among the many observations […]

With all the speculation around unidentified flying objects (UFOs) of late, you may have missed that we’re about to make contact with a parallel universe. According to an article doing the rounds on Twitter, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are due to get chatty with the parallel universe “within days”. While great news […]

One of the few planets known to orbit two stars, TOI-1338b, has a giant companion in the same system – only the second time that what is known as a Tatooine System has been found to be multi-planetary. Most known stars are part of binary systems, but we’re still just starting to learn how well […]

If someone asked you to weigh the planet – assuming you haven’t paid much attention during physics in high school – you might not know where to start. How do you weigh a thing you’re standing on? That’s like being asked to weigh your own scales without using a second set of scales. If you’re […]

The bright, red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion has shown some unexpected behaviour. In late 2019 and 2020 it became fainter than we had ever seen it – at least in records going back more than a century. Briefly it became fainter (just about) than Bellatrix, the third brightest star of Orion. This event […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to identify a handful of “Nazca Line” geoglyphs that were carved in the deserts of southern Peru thousands of years ago. The collection of colossal ancient carvings – pictured below – depict a pair of legs measuring 78 meters (256 feet) in size, a fish measuring 19 meters (62 […]

Italy is very geologically active, with many volcanos – some of which have been deadly. However, the largest one doesn’t look like your average volcano at all: Campi Flegrei looks like a depression. It is a caldera with a diameter between 12 to 14 kilometers (7.5-8.7 miles), and part of it is in the sea. […]

With “skin writing” you never get caught short without a pen, as this peculiar condition makes it possible to write messages on human skin with the touch of a finger. Known as dermatographic urticaria, it’s estimated to affect around 2 to 3 percent of the population. Dermatographism, as the condition is known, literally means “to […]

Here’s a fact that would make you sound unhinged if you shouted it in the street: The center of the Earth is two and a half years younger than the surface. About 4.6 billion years ago, a hot cloud of dust orbiting the Sun coalesced and cooled. As it did so, the heavier elements formed […]

Spend five minutes on any dating app and you’re bound to find someone who, among the laundry list of qualities they desire in a potential partner, has a very specific view about one particular aspect of human physiology: height. A study looked at people’s preferences for height in romantic partners and found some notable differences […]